Changes

Meanwhile, the South interfered with voting by former slaves and the 15th Amendment is passed to protect that right.  The 14th Amendment was passed earlier to protect other rights of former slaves and give Congress special powers to protect them further, which Congress does in the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited racial discrimination in hotels, theaters, public transit, employment and other public places, and establishes right of former slaves to serve on juries.  But later the Supreme Court held the Civil Rights Act to be unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the South interfered with voting by former slaves and the 15th Amendment is passed to protect that right.  The 14th Amendment was passed earlier to protect other rights of former slaves and give Congress special powers to protect them further, which Congress does in the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited racial discrimination in hotels, theaters, public transit, employment and other public places, and establishes right of former slaves to serve on juries.  But later the Supreme Court held the Civil Rights Act to be unconstitutional.

How would Reconstruction end?  When Republicans lost power, which almost happened in the 1876 presidential election and the Republicans had to promise to end Reconstruction in order to resolve the dispute and induct President Rutherford B. Hayes.  He was a one-termer (after Grant served two terms).  Afterwards the Northern Republicans did not do much in the South, and did not protect former slaves any further.

How would Reconstruction end?  When Republicans lost power, which almost happened in the 1876 presidential election and the Republicans had to promise to end Reconstruction in order to resolve the dispute and induct President Rutherford B. Hayes.  He was a one-termer (after Grant served two terms).  Afterward, the Northern Republicans did not do much in the South, and did not protect former slaves any further.

Wars are expensive.  Remember the French and Indian War and how Britain taxed us afterwards?  Somebody has to pay all the bills from a war, the hospitals, the weapons, the food, the transportation, and the meager wages for soldiers.   

Wars are expensive.  Remember the French and Indian War and how Britain taxed us afterward?  Somebody has to pay all the bills from a war, the hospitals, the weapons, the food, the transportation, and the meager wages for soldiers.   

The revenue from tariffs was not enough.  Lincoln started an income tax for the first time (expired in 1872).  He suspended the payment by the government to citizens in gold and silver, to protect its reserves.  He taxed manufacturers and the public through sales taxes.  But most of all, Lincoln financed the Civil War by issuing greenbacks, similar to our green dollar bills today.  This was a change from monetary practices under Alexander Hamilton, when all currency was backed by gold or silver.  Lincoln’s greenbacks were not backed by anything at all.  The government simply printed and distributed them.

The revenue from tariffs was not enough.  Lincoln started an income tax for the first time (expired in 1872).  He suspended the payment by the government to citizens in gold and silver, to protect its reserves.  He taxed manufacturers and the public through sales taxes.  But most of all, Lincoln financed the Civil War by issuing greenbacks, similar to our green dollar bills today.  This was a change from monetary practices under Alexander Hamilton, when all currency was backed by gold or silver.  Lincoln’s greenbacks were not backed by anything at all.  The government simply printed and distributed them.

Returning to 1875: from 1875-93, every year showed a budget surplus for the government.  This was the “Gilded Age,” a term coined by the extremely successful writer from Missouri, Mark Twain (his real name was Samuel Clemens).  

Returning to 1875: from 1875-93, every year showed a budget surplus for the government.  This was the “Gilded Age,” a term coined by the extremely successful writer from Missouri, Mark Twain (his real name was Samuel Clemens).  

The era was “gilded” because it appeared golden, but beneath the shiny surface was greed and corruption according to Mark Twain, who wrote a novel by that name in which Washington, D.C. was run by greedy businessmen and corrupt government officials.  (Mark Twain wrote several other influential novels, including “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (a journey on a raft on the Mississippi and in life based on experiences)).  The Gilded Age featured “robber barons,” who were people who became extremely wealthy through ruthless business practices.  The worst “robber baron” was Jay Gould, a financier on Wall Street who committed rampant fraud by printing false stock certificates and even tried to corner the gold market in 1869.  That led to a financial panic known as Black Friday, after Gould drove up the price of gold by hording it, President Grant learned of the scheme and started selling the government gold reserves on the market to cause the price to fall.  The price of gold then fell sharply, and many lost everything they had.  Gould, however, had sold out at the highest price!

The era was “gilded” because it appeared golden, but beneath the shiny surface was greed and corruption according to Mark Twain, who wrote a novel by that name in which Washington, D.C. was run by greedy businessmen and corrupt government officials.  (Mark Twain wrote several other influential novels, including “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (a journey on a raft on the Mississippi and in life based on experiences)).  The Gilded Age featured “robber barons,” who were people who became extremely wealthy through ruthless business practices.  The worst “robber baron” was Jay Gould, a financier on Wall Street who committed rampant fraud by printing false stock certificates and even tried to corner the gold market in 1869.  That led to a financial panic known as Black Friday, after Gould drove up the price of gold by hoarding it, President Grant learned of the scheme and started selling the government gold reserves on the market to cause the price to fall.  The price of gold then fell sharply, and many lost everything they had.  Gould, however, had sold out at the highest price!

In fact, this was the golden era of capitalism, when American business was phenomenally successful, huge fortunes were made, and government did not interfere.  Businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, who immigrated from Scotland without any money and ended up with massive wealth from founding the Carnegie Steel Co. (later became U.S. Steel Co.), amassing a fortune that he then donated to build structures like Carnegie Hall, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the enormous New York Public Library (plus 2800 other public libraries).  He wrote the “Gospel of Wealth” in 1900 to describe his vision of capitalism.

In fact, this was the golden era of capitalism, when American business was phenomenally successful, huge fortunes were made, and government did not interfere.  Businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, who immigrated from Scotland without any money and ended up with massive wealth from founding the Carnegie Steel Co. (later became U.S. Steel Co.), amassing a fortune that he then donated to build structures like Carnegie Hall, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the enormous New York Public Library (plus 2800 other public libraries).  He wrote the “Gospel of Wealth” in 1900 to describe his vision of capitalism.